True frozen feeder (no pre-thawed slurry) - Seeking input

[clownfish4]

Every DIY frozen feeder I have seen has relied on a refrigerated slurry. The only version that I've seen that would last more than a day requires making your own food with preservatives. I'm looking to build a true frozen feeder that can be used with any frozen food without degrading the food quality. I've broken this idea down into three components (listed below). The diagram at the bottom of this post shows my first thoughts on how to accomplish these three pieces. The first piece is where I need the most input as electronics/robotics is not a strength of mine.

1. Getting the frozen food out of the freezer at a specific time in a specific volume
- My sump is ~20" off the ground so I am looking to use a two door mini fridge, with the freezer on top, to use gravity to get the frozen food into the sump
- In the diagram, on the side of the freezer is a slanted piece of PVC, cut in half length wise, that goes through a hole in the door of the fridge. My idea is to have conveyor belts where the frozen food is pre-portioned on the belts and a motor turns on throughout the day to drop one portion into the PVC chute.
- Questions:
- Are there any pre-fabricated conveyor belts that would fit this need? I tried searching for mini ones but didn't find anything at this small of a scale.
- If not, any DIY instructions anyone can point me to for this? The motor would need to turn on for a couple of seconds at set times throughout the day.
- Does anyone have a better idea of how to get the frozen food out of the freezer? I want to maximize the number of feedings that can be done. Ideally 120 to allow a month of 4x a day.

2. Thawing the food/chopping it up into bite size pieces
- In the diagram below the chute drops into the top of a Y-fitting that connects to a pump (likely the maxijet I have lying around). The pump will be off when the food drops in so the food can soften/thaw for a few minutes before being shredded by the pump. The idea being that frozen food would likely break the impeller over time. The other opening on the Y-fitting is to allow tank water into the pump so it doesn't run dry.
- Any concerns about this that I'm not thinking of?

3. Delivering it to the tank
- The pump in step 2 will deliver the food to the tank and be controller by a standard timer. The only thing I am debating is running a dedicated line from this pump to the tank or pumping it into the intake of the return pump.
- Anyone have a preference on these two options, or a third option?

4. Any other comments/suggestions?

 

[Saltyreef]

And of course the reefsicle but thats a daily refill.

Smarter Reefs - Official Store

reef aquarium filter, protein skimmer, automatic filtration, frozen food dispenser, algae scrubber, auto filter roller

smarterreefs.com

 

[clownfish4]

And of course the reefsicle but thats a daily refill.

Smarter Reefs - Official Store

reef aquarium filter, protein skimmer, automatic filtration, frozen food dispenser, algae scrubber, auto filter roller

smarterreefs.com

Ahh, I didn't know about the aF4. I don't think it is a viable option for me though because I need mine setup in less than 2 weeks and it looks like that hasn't hit production yet. I also think the number of units to hit a month's supply would be more costly than doing it myself.

I forgot I had a DP-5 lying around. I'm now thinking that I'll pull the heads off of the unit and mount it on the outside of the door and put rod extenders on them to drive the conveyor belts. This takes care of my electronics deficiency. I think the freezer on a two-door mini fridge is too small, so I'm looking at using a mini freezer (no-fridge) instead. If I turn the doser on its side I can mount the conveyors vertically on the door. I should be able to make the conveyors between 10-12" long and can be wide, so if I do 1/2" treads I could get 20-24 slots per conveyor, giving me 100-120 slots. At 4 feedings a day this would give me 25-30 days worth. I've also thought about using vertical conveyors which would give me the ability to at least double that. At that point the only other concern on the freezer side I can think of is the food getting freezer burn, but not sure that is a major concern.

 

[maw1000]

Did you every figure a way to feed frozen food automatically?

 

[clownfish4]

Almost, there are some recent updates in my build thread. I made a rotating disc but haven’t found a single direction motor that works in the freezing temps. Since the last update in my build thread I got another motor that doesn’t work at freezing. My next step is trying to drill through the top of the freezer and hope there isn’t anything other than insulation in there.

 

[maw1000]

Almost, there are some recent updates in my build thread. I made a rotating disc but haven’t found a single direction motor that works in the freezing temps. Since the last update in my build thread I got another motor that doesn’t work at freezing. My next step is trying to drill through the top of the freezer and hope there isn’t anything other than insulation in there.

I was looking at putting the motor on the outside of the freezer and just having the shaft go throw the side. Do you have a picture of your rotating disc? Is it an auger?

 

[clownfish4]

I was looking at putting the motor on the outside of the freezer and just having the shaft go throw the side. Do you have a picture of your rotating disc? Is it an auger?

It's just a piece of soft styrofoam between two acrylic sheets. The bottom acrylic sheet is fixed and has a hole on the right side for food to drop. The styrofoam has 16 holes that rotate over the single hole in the acrylic. The top acrylic sheet is just to add some weight to keep the styrofoam flat.

 

[maw1000]

It's just a piece of soft styrofoam between two acrylic sheets. The bottom acrylic sheet is fixed and has a hole on the right side for food to drop. The styrofoam has 16 holes that rotate over the single hole in the acrylic. The top acrylic sheet is just to add some weight to keep the styrofoam flat.

Does the food exit throw a hole in the door?

 

[maw1000]

Almost, there are some recent updates in my build thread. I made a rotating disc but haven’t found a single direction motor that works in the freezing temps. Since the last update in my build thread I got another motor that doesn’t work at freezing. My next step is trying to drill through the top of the freezer and hope there isn’t anything other than insulation in there.

I wonder if a ice maker motor would work.

 

[py84]

Hello,

Here is mine:

I use it every time I am away from home for more than 1 week.

The frozen food falls down into a pipe that ends in a "T pipe" connected to my return pump. My disk plate contains about 25 doses.

The stepper motor is a standard one and there is no problem with the cold. The arduino is also in the frozen and it works well. I added a servo motor to push food. Buttons are used to rotate the disk forward or backward when I recharge food. Note that there is a switch that is used to "calibrate" the disk rotation at each use.

I hope this will help you (I found nothing on internet when I built mine 4 years ago).

 

[clownfish4]

Does the food exit throw a hole in the door?

Yeah. I figured the door was the most likely not to have any wiring/piping inside it and if I messed it up I could easily replace just the door. Thank you for the ice maker motor suggestion. I am going back I drill a small hole in the top to see if there is anything other than insulation. Will be easy enough to plug and I shouldn’t need more than a 1/4 inch hole to accommodate the current motor. If that doesn’t work I’ll circle back to the ice maker motor.

 

[clownfish4]

Hello,

Here is mine:

I use it every time I am away from home for more than 1 week.

The frozen food falls down into a pipe that ends in a "T pipe" connected to my return pump. My disk plate contains about 25 doses.

The stepper motor is a standard one and there is no problem with the cold. The arduino is also in the frozen and it works well. I added a servo motor to push food. Buttons are used to rotate the disk forward or backward when I recharge food. Note that there is a switch that is used to "calibrate" the disk rotation at each use.

I hope this will help you (I found nothing on internet when I built mine 4 years ago).

Thank you for the detail! I remember coming across yours a few months ago when googling but it has been difficult to find again. I have zero experience with electronics so have been trying to piece something together with little skill. I’m hoping I can get my current motor to work to get me through Christmas, then I’ll have a lot more time to deep dive the arduino and stepper motor.

 

[maw1000]

Thank you for the detail! I remember coming across yours a few months ago when googling but it has been difficult to find again. I have zero experience with electronics so have been trying to piece something together with little skill. I’m hoping I can get my current motor to work to get me through Christmas, then I’ll have a lot more time to deep dive the arduino and stepper motor.

Hello,

Here is mine:

I use it every time I am away from home for more than 1 week.

The frozen food falls down into a pipe that ends in a "T pipe" connected to my return pump. My disk plate contains about 25 doses.

The stepper motor is a standard one and there is no problem with the cold. The arduino is also in the frozen and it works well. I added a servo motor to push food. Buttons are used to rotate the disk forward or backward when I recharge food. Note that there is a switch that is used to "calibrate" the disk rotation at each use.

I hope this will help you (I found nothing on internet when I built mine 4 years ago).

Wow! That is inpress

Hello,

Here is mine:

I use it every time I am away from home for more than 1 week.

The frozen food falls down into a pipe that ends in a "T pipe" connected to my return pump. My disk plate contains about 25 doses.

The stepper motor is a standard one and there is no problem with the cold. The arduino is also in the frozen and it works well. I added a servo motor to push food. Buttons are used to rotate the disk forward or backward when I recharge food. Note that there is a switch that is used to "calibrate" the disk rotation at each use.

I hope this will help you (I found nothing on internet when I built mine 4 years ago).

Wow that is very impressive. Top notch DIY. This gives me some ideas. Appreciate the info.